Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is about being in the present moment more fully, in order that we can make choices – to live on purpose. This allows us to move in the direction of who and what matters to us, even in the face of unwanted internal experiences, such as unhelpful thoughts and difficult feelings.

The practice is not about getting rid of these emotions or thoughts, or changing them in any way. Rather, it about learning to accept them – making room for them – as they are an inevitable part of being a human being. The term often used in ACT, is that it promotes psychological flexibility, enabling us to respond rather than react to our internal events.

 ACT is something that has got into the fabric of our lives, in a way that no other model or approach had done previously. We view it as being about making an ongoing commitment to live in a certain way, rather than about fixing something that is broken. Similarly, we do not see our clients as being ‘broken”, but rather as being stuck. As we try to help un-stick them, we learn from each other.

​

“Psychological flexibility is the ability to adapt to a situation with awareness, openness, and focus and to take effective action, guided by your values”.

​

Russ Harris, The Happiness Trap

​

​

​

 During the 2 days, we will cover:

​

• A brief overview of the philosophical background to ACT 

• The basic building blocks of Relational Frame Theory - the model underpinning ACT

• A detailed and experiential outline of the six processes of the ACT model.  The aim will be that attendees will connect with each of these processes from the inside.

• A walk through of things to consider for assessment and workability (inc ‘creative hopelessness’).

• How to start to formulate cases using the ACT model – including small group role-/real-plays.

• An introduction to the ACT Matrix – a tool for formulating struggle alongside the client, and also looking at our own ‘stuff’.